


The Captain

by Medie



Category: Star Trek (2009)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-02-10
Updated: 2010-02-10
Packaged: 2017-10-07 04:06:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/61271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Medie/pseuds/Medie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Another stripe on her sleeve meant little either to the naked eye or the tricorder scan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Captain

**Author's Note:**

> for the Number One Genfest at [](http://community.livejournal.com/pike_numberone/profile)[**pike_numberone**](http://community.livejournal.com/pike_numberone/) #10 - Command. My thanks to [](http://mari4212.livejournal.com/profile)[**mari4212**](http://mari4212.livejournal.com/) for the beta. Any remaining errors are mine.

1.

She never sought a command of her own. Not that she feared it; there was little Number One truly feared. Little that evoked a reaction so profound as to deserve the title of fear. She was the best, the brightest, the very pinnacle of a hundred generations. She, the culmination of the greatest lineage of her race, had known no other life than leadership.

What was commanding a starship when one had been bred to command a world?

No, she hadn't feared it. She just hadn't desired it. Not with the ferocity of her fellows. One watched them chasing that goal with, at times, a near desperation.

-  
_  
"You could at least _look_ frustrated," Kiyav bemoaned, slumping in his chair. "You wanted that job. Can't we hate him just a little?"_

She smiled, shaking her head. "No."

"Oh, come on," he said, scowling. The lights of the Mess Hall dimmed slightly, reflecting the changeover of shifts to Gamma, the increasing shadows painting pictures on Kiyav's blue skull. "It's a Terran tradition. My roommate -- "

"Is Human," One finished. "Unlike us."

He grinned. "Yeah, but you look like them. You can blend in."

One raised an eyebrow. "Why would I want to?"

-

2.

Her uniform had not changed. Not in any appreciable manner. Another stripe on her sleeve meant little either to the naked eye or the tricorder scan. It was the same colour, shape, heft, and the composition of its fabric remained unchanged.

It was, save for that one stripe, indistinguishable and, yet, it now appeared so alien.

One stood in her quarters, surveying the shirt, and made no move to put it on. She had not sought this, but with Pike's reassignment, Starfleet's eye had fallen to her. Just as she had always known it would. Perhaps not with Chris, but with someone.

She could have refused. It would have taken little to change his mind, convince him she should follow him to the Academy and, eventually, to the Enterprise. She suspected that no small part of him wished she had tried.

No small part of her wished the same.

Breathing deep, Number One reached for the tunic. She had not been raised to hide. Whether it was refuge from her responsibilities or from the truth of time's passage was irrelevant.

-__

Garrovick met her at the turbolift doors. He was a tall man. Even she had to lift her head to make eye contact.

However, at that moment, he seemed uninterested in it. "You know," he said, reaching out to hit the console's call function, "some days it just doesn't pay to get out of bed."

Number One clasped arms behind her back. "I'm sorry, sir?"

He grinned. "No, I think I am." The doors slid open. "For the record, Lieutenant, you would have made the Farragut one hell of a helmsman."

"And yet, you awarded the position to Lieutenant Mann," she replied, stepping inside.

"I did," he agreed. "I wanted you for the job, but as it turned out, Starfleet has other plans." He took a step back, letting the doors begin to close without him. "Tell Pike he's a lucky bastard and if he gives you any trouble, he'll have the Farragut to answer to."

3.

Dressed, she sat down at her desk. Some captains preferred to confine their paperwork to their ready rooms. She saw little use for such a restriction as she would not surrender command upon passing through the door of her cabin. If the responsibility did not cease with the end of her duty shift, then why attempt artificial restrictions?

The ship was, as yet, mostly unmanned. Senior officers had come aboard with the bare bones of their departmental staff to begin preparations. The Yorktown was not a ship new to service, but she was departing under a new captain, new crew, and thus received the same treatment.

There was much to do and even less time with which to do it.

Surveying the myriad of messages awaiting her, One was reminded that the dramatic moments of command were, mostly, buried beneath the minutiae of daily living.

She selected the first message, a requisition request from Lieutenant Commander T'Pris, and settled in. There were many more to follow.

-

_"Never let them promote you, Number One," Chris grumbled. He picked up a padd, brandishing it at her. "They send us out here to explore and then weigh us down with unnecessary paperwork."_

She opened her mouth, and he scowled all the darker.

"If any kind of commentary on the Federation being a paperless society is about to cross your lips, be aware, I haven't spaced anyone today."

With a faint smile, she sat across from him. "Of course, not, Captain. However, you do have a Yeoman quite capable of rendering assistance."

Sitting back, Chris nodded. "I do, I do, unfortunately, I might have made an ass of myself."

One's eyebrow flicked upward.

"Yes, again_," he sighed. "I might have made light of certain aspects of her job."_

"Ah," One said. "That, I believe, was unwise."

"I know I said I wanted an honest exec," Chris said, scowling again, "but do you have to be so damn literal about it?"

"Yes," she replied, nodding once.

"Which means you won't be defending me to Colt."

"I will not."

"I hate you."

"No, you do not."

Chris scowled. "Fine, but can you at least help me?"

Number One shook her head, presenting him with another padd. "Crew evaluations, sir. You'll notice Yeoman Colt's rating?"

"Don't tell me -- "

"She has had requests from three different captains," One said, serene. "Yes." A good yeoman was worth their weight in the most precious of precious metals. A captain with even a suggestion of intelligence recognized this.

What that said about Captain Pike, One dared not consider.

"Stop laughing at me," Chris said.

"I am not laughing, sir," she replied. "Much."

He hrumphed. "Word of advice, Commander. The day you end up on this side of the table, you get yourself one hell of a yeoman. You're going to need them." After a moment's pause, he looked at her and added, "But not Colt. I saw her first."

"Yes, sir," she said, dutifully. "Understood, sir."

4.

The uniform rested heavy on her shoulders. She wasn't a woman given to whimsy, but she permitted herself a moment to contemplate the unseen weight of command.

She had never pretended to understand it. Had watched it press heavy on the captains under whom she'd served. Men and women of varying species who'd borne it with varying degrees of success. She'd watched them all with interest and fascination.

She'd never sought command, but she'd accepted its inevitability nonetheless.

Therein lay the true value of a talented exec, capable yeoman, and exemplary crew. All of them combined to ease what could be eased. The rest, well, the rest the captain carried alone.

With another breath, she turned around and faced her reflection. Captain One. The name she'd chosen to keep. Her choice. Not one laid upon her by expectation, breeding, or the stifling rules of a society slowly crumbling to dust.

"Captain to the bridge."

Turning her head, she listened to H'vaii's low, melodic tone repeat the summons.

-

_She knew the look in his eye. Had seen it before, though the excitement lurking in at its edges did change things some. Aware of the news likely about to emerge from her captain, Number One set down her stylus and straightened her spine._

"You've been given the Enterprise," she said.

Pike's eyes widened, but to his credit only just, and he dropped into the chair across from her. "Some day, I am going to surprise you."

"I'm sure," she affirmed. "It's no secret, sir. The rumors have been circulating through Starfleet for some time."

"I thought you didn't pay attention to rumor," he said.

"I don't," she replied. "In this case, they merely coincide with natural inevitability. There is no other option for that ship."

He smiled and accepted the compliment with a small nod before delivering one of his own. "Just as there was for this one." He held out a padd to her, his smile widening only just. "Congratulations, Captain."

Accepting the padd, she contemplated the orders.

5.

Number One had not sought command, but she had prepared, had been prepared, for it nonetheless. She touched the comm panel as she passed.

"On my way."


End file.
